Jackson William Furbush
Born Tuesday, July 30th at 1:17 am
6 lbs 12 oz
Now, the story of how he came to join us!
I had a scheduled doctor's appointment on Monday at 9:15 am. As you all know, I've been dying for Sea Monkey (who I can't really call Sea Monkey anymore now that he's here) to get out of my belly! My doctor checked me and basically asked me if I still wanted to be induced. "Ummmm HELL YEAH!!" So she asked when and I replied, "How about now?" I was too excited to hold back. I couldn't wait to get things started. So she called down to the hospital and let them know I would be there shortly. I immediately called Mike and let him know that this was the day, it was FINALLY TIME! Get out of work and come to the hospital!
My appointment was late starting so I arrived at the hospital around 10:30 am. They took me to the room where I'd be in labor and where I'd eventually deliver. After answering 100 questions, I got my first dose of induction medicine. I forget the name of it - but it's a small pill that they place in your cervix. It's job is to help you prepare for delivery. So after waiting 4 hours for it to do it's job, I needed another dose. I got my second dose around 3:15. Contractions were getting stronger and longer which was a good sign that the medication was working. By 4:30 my contractions were 3 minutes apart and I was getting very uncomfortable. I had to wait it out a little longer. At this point, my parents were visiting me before we really got things going. I was up and walking around the room, taking a break from being on all the monitors. The nurse had just come back in the room to hook me up again. As I was about to get back in the bed, my water broke! No turning back now! It was a very exciting moment. Even though it felt like I was peeing down my leg, and onto the floor .... in front of a whole bunch of people, it didn't matter. It was exciting. It felt like a rite of passage.
Shortly after, I was in a lot more pain. It's amazing how quickly things change. I asked if I could get my epidural and they said yes. Anesthesia arrived and I was very nervous about this part. Honestly, the worst part was getting the numbing medication. You have to sit very still and it was so hard to do between contractions. I only moved a little as he inserted the needle with the numbing medication. I think at this point I was telling Mike I hated him. Which we all know is not true! The Anesthesiologist was great. He talked me through everything and did the procedure fairly quickly. Very shortly after he was done, I felt no pain. None. Nil. Zilch. I was in heaven. I seriously wanted to hug and kiss whoever invented the epidural. It was done really well too. I could feel absolutely no pain, but I still had feeling in my legs. At one point I knew my socks were all twisted and messed up and made Mike fix them for me. The nurse got a kick out of this and said in her 30+ years as a labor and delivery nurse, she's never once had someone who could feel that after getting an epidural.
Around 9:00 pm, they started me on Pitocin to get things moving along a little. We had some issues with Sea Monkey, I mean, Jackson - in that his heart rate was dropping when I had contractions. This would cause nurses to come running to the room when the little alarm went off. Part of me felt so bad that I was causing them so much trouble, but I was amazed by how quickly they responded and really took care of us. I ended up being placed on oxygen - it helped Jackson a little bit. By 10:00 I was dilated to 5 cm, 90% effaced (cervix was really short, almost gone) and Jackson was at -1 station (how far he was into my pelvis). By 11:00, I was dilated to 10 and almost ready to push! They didn't tell me how far down he had moved, but I was feeling increased pressure. At this point I stopped keeping track of time. But I know I started to push a little. It wasn't doing much so they had me stop and wait a little longer.
The room started to fill with nurses, doctors, residents, medical students and a whole lot of equipment. Things were very busy. The doctor who would be delivering Jackson was Dr. Jacobson. I actually know him because I work at the hospital and his office is in the building where I work. So I see him all the time. Kind of awkward to be laying in a hospital bed, with my legs in stirrups (not the kind you use when riding a horse) and my legs spread wide for all the world to see my most private areas. And he takes one look at me and says, "You work here, right?" Yes. Yes I do. At that point I really didn't care that he could see me in all my glory. I was so happy that Jackson was about to make his appearance nothing else mattered. When we really got going, I pushed for about 45 minutes. Jackson's heart rate was still dropping sporadically and they really wanted to get him out. They talked with me about using the vacuum to help him out. I really didn't want to do that, but they pretty much insisted it was what was best for both of us. So I conceeded. They started to get everything together and along came another contraction and it was time to push. I'm not sure if the threat of needing the vacuum made me push harder, or if it was just time, but Jackson was born! I could feel his head come out and then the rest of him followed shortly after.
It felt like an eternity before they held him up for me to see. When they finally did (which I'm sure was only a few seconds), he was purple and blue and his head was pointy. I was pepared for all of this - it was one of the most exciting moments to finally see our son! Mike cut the cord and they placed him on my chest almost immediately. He was still covered in vernix - it's a white cheesy / soapy substance that protects the baby in the womb. As you all know, I pretty much insisted since the beginning that they clean him off before giving him to me, but I really didn't care anymore. I wanted my baby. And I got him. Not 2 minutes after he was born and laying on me, he peed on me. Twice. And when you're laying down, that's really not fun since it dripped down to my neck. But I didn't care. I had my baby!!
The team was still furiously working on me "down there". I figured I was delivering the placenta and it was all normal. Until I realized they were still down there. I asked what was going on. Seems like I had a pretty decent second degree tear inside my vagina and they were stitching me up. I kept asking what was going on and they really didn't want to tell me. I was very distracted by our little Jackson so it didn't bother me too much. I remember I kept looking at Mike and then at Jackson and I couldn't stop smiling. It was amazing.
Overall, labor was 14 hours. (Mike insists that it was 12, but since I started the medication at 11 am Monday and I delivered him around 1 am Tuesday, I count it as 14 hours). The experience was great and I wouldn't have changed a thing.
The rest of the night was kind of a blur, but shortly after we were moved to the other side of the unit to a new room. I really wanted / needed to go to the bathroom but I just couldn't. Everything was swollen and sore and I ended up needing a catheter placed. The nurse couldn't get it the first time so it took her a second shot to get it right. I felt a lot of relief after it was inserted, but by the next morning I really wanted it out. They wouldn't remove it until I had it placed for 12 hours so I had to wait.
We had just a few visitors that morning - Grammy, Pop (my parents) and Buddy (Mike's mom). They were all so excited to meet their grandson Jackson!
Here's a bunch of photos for you:
Proud Daddy!
Proud Grammy!
Proud Pop!
Proud Buddy!
Proud Mommy!
I've been very busy since delivering, you know, caring for a newborn and all. But I've still got so much more to tell you. Jackson is still sleeping but I need to feed him now, so I'll write more again when I can. Thank you all for following us through this journey. It's been amazing and we are so lucky to have the most beautiful miracle join our family.
He is beautiful and I can't wait to meet him :)
ReplyDeletePaige <3